Police brutality is the wanton use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer. Widespread police brutality exists in many countries, even those that prosecute it. It is one of several forms of police misconduct, which include: false arrest, intimidation, racial profiling, political repression, surveillance abuse, sexual abuse and police corruption.

A Lambton County man was within his rights to resist an arrest for refusing to submit to a breath test, because there were no legal grounds for the breath test, a Sarnia court judge ruled Tuesday.

The man was acquitted Tuesday of refusing a breath test demand and for resisting arrest following a three-day trial spread over the past 13 months.

The man's vehicle was stopped at 1:40 a.m. in June 2013 so an OPP officer could check his sobriety.

The man was arrested when he didn’t respond to the police officer's demand for a roadside breath sample.

During the arrest there was a struggle, during which the man was kneed several times, the court was told.

The police had no valid basis for the arrest, said defence lawyer Patrick Ducharme during the final day of the trial in July.

The officer was entitled to check the driver's sobriety, Ducharme added.

Justice Jonathon George said Tuesday there was no evidence of erratic driving, there were no alcohol or drugs were found in the vehicle, and there was only a sweet odour in the vehicle that could have been alcohol.

The roadside breath test demand must be based on the reasonable suspicion that the person has alcohol in their system.

If there was no lawful demand, the man was permitted to resist an unlawful arrest, said George.

Prior to issuing his judgment on the charges, George had referred to the essence of the trial as being “weird.” It is not unusual for there to be competing versions of an incident presented during a trial, but in this case there was no air of reality to the testimony of two defence witnesses and their assertions made no sense, said George.

If they were to be believed, an innocent man was subjected to an irrational beating by officers, but George said he did not believe these witnesses, the driver and his female passenger.

Both witnesses provided almost identical voice inflections as they mimicked one of the officers at the incident, creating the impression it had been rehearsed, said George, in describing his concern about their testimony.